Lessons I've learned from the dead

My father and I were constantly at odds. I can't remember how or when it started, but I do remember thinking that he was the meanest, most unfair man alive.

That changed right after I left high school as I started learning more about him as a man, and not just my daddy.

By the time I moved to Georgia, we had a solid relationship-an unspoken one of mutual respect and trust.

He wasn't into sentiment, and I wasn't about to broach my feelings of admiration for him. I thought I had years to tell him how much he meant to me, and how I finally understood the man he was.

And then he was dead. He collapsed mowing the grass a week past his 62nd birthday.

It was that rude awakening that taught me one of my first life lessons.

Lesson One: Never let an opportunity go by to tell someone how much they mean to you, or how they impacted your life.

In the 15 years since my father's death, I have sent innumerable cards and e-mails to people who cross my mind while driving, or in those last few minutes before sleep comes.

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